On Media

Crowley challenges Romney on Libya

By DYLAN BYERS

10/16/2012 10:22 PM EDT

Debate moderator Candy Crowley challenged Gov. Mitt Romney's assertion about President Barack Obama's handling of the security situation in Libya -- an unexpected move that elicited a rare moment of applause from the town hall audience.

In a follow-up to an audience member's question about Libya, Crowley asked the president: "Your secretary of state, as I'm sure you know, has said that she takes full responsibility for the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi. Does the buck stop with your secretary of state as far as what went on here?"

President Obama turned his attention on Romney:

Secretary Clinton has done an extraordinary job. But she works for me. I'm the president and I'm always responsible, and that's why nobody's more interested in finding out exactly what happened than I do.

The day after the attack, governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people in the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened. That this was an act of terror and I also said that we're going to hunt down those who committed this crime.

And then a few days later, I was there greeting the caskets coming into Andrews Air Force Base and grieving with the families.

And the suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the Secretary of State, our U.N. Ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, governor, is offensive. That's not what we do. That's not what I do as president, that's not what I do as Commander in Chief.

Gov. Romney responded by suggesting the president had actually taken more than two weeks to admit that the attack in Benghazi was a terrorist attack, as opposed to a spontaneous act following demonstrations against an American-made, anti-Muslim film.

"I think it's interesting the president just said something, which is that on the day after the attack he went into the Rose Garden and said that this was an act of terror," Romney said.

"That's what I said," Obama replied.

"You said in the Rose Garden the day after the attack, it was an act of terror," said Romney. "It was not a spontaneous demonstration, is that what you're saying?"

"Please proceed governor," said Obama.

"I want to make sure we get that for the record because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror," said Romney.

"Get the transcript," Obama replied.

For the first time during the debate, Crowley moved to correct one of the candidates.

"He -- he did call it an act of terror. It did as well take -- it did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea there being a riot out there about this tape to come out. You are correct about that," Crowley clarified.

Romney moved fast to take control of the debate again, but had clearly lost his footing.

But as Crowley noted, and as many pointed out on Twitter, Obama did go for more than two weeks after the Sept. 11 attack without calling it "terrorism."

"The fact is Obama didn't say the word terror again for two weeks after Rose Garden remarks and then not until pressed," Tim Miller, an RNC spokesperson, tweeted.

Miller referred POLITICO to an interview wtih Univision on Sept. 20, an interview with The View on Sept. 24, and his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 25. In all of these cases and others, President Obama did not call the attack terrorism, and in some referred to the anti-Muslim film.